It has long been a frustration to me that William Hannah (m. Margaret Lees 1815, Ayrshire) apparently had no parents. All attempts to trace his ancestors through the official records have, to date been in vain.
I still have no definitive proof, but am happy that the problem is now resolved “beyond reasonable doubt”. My reasons are given below, and I am more than happy to engage in conversation with anyone who feels I am “off the track” somewhere, or just plain wrong.
Let us start with what the records do give us. In the case of William Hannah we are told the following:
Marriage
William and Margaret married 27th May 1815. The OPR entry (Ayrshire, 612/1 10 p. 379) states “William Hannah in the parish of Dalmellington and Margaret Lees in this parish were three times proclaimed in order to Marriage on two Sabbaths and were married”. So it appears William came from Dalmellington, at a distance of about 13 miles from Ayr.
I normally assume when looking for a marriage that it occurs around 25 years of age (plus or minus) for a male. In William’s case this admittedly blatant assumption gives a birth year around 1790.
Census
The 1841 Census for Ayrshire (the first and last William would participate in) tells us that he was at the time living in Sandgate Street, and had his wife Margaret (Lees) with him.
The ages of William (40) and Margaret (35) are apparently wrong, possibly due to rounding down as was the practice, or a transcription error, or a combination of both.
However, doing the maths gives us a prima facie birth year of around 1801. If rounding down had been applied (as was the practice in the 1841 census) and his age was in fact 44 years, it would give a birth year of around 1797.
We know Margaret was born in 1786, so the 1841 census should have given an age of around 55. Maybe the Hannah’s just wanted to have fun with the census taker.
Death
Six years after the census the OPR entry (Ayr 578 130/131) gives us a date of death as July 2 1847. It also gives his age at 60 years, this probably supplied by Margaret to the recorder. If correct this gives a birth date of around 1787.
Possibilities
The OPR records only show two William Hannah’s being born between 1785 and 1788, both in Tarbolton, 18 miles from Dalmellington.
OPR entry (Tarbolton 619 10 p.200) for 1786 gives the following:- “William Hannah in Muirside had his son William in fornication baptised Aug 4th”
OPR entry (Tarbolton 619 10 p.204) for 1787 gives the following:- “John Hannah in Hillhead had his son William baptised Nov 25th 1787”
Researching both families doesn’t shed much light. Muirside William has no known siblings, possibly understandable under the circumstances. Hillhead William appears to have had a brother James, born 1782. Neither entry gives me any cause for hope, given the birth places and lack of siblings.
Occupation
William’s occupation varies from record to record. The only consistent occupation is as a “tailor”, including in the two prison records (below). He also appears variously as labourer, town officer, bellman and fisherman.
Prison records
William had two short stays in Ayr prison. In 1841 his admission record has an age of 56, which gives birth year around 1785. In 1844 his record has an age of 58, giving a birth year around 1786. Both entries have a birth place of Dalmellington.
And that’s it folks!
There are no more official records yet found that can help pin William’s pedigree down.
However, let’s think outside the square.
OPR records, (church parish records prior to the introduction of statutory BDM records in 1855) can be prone to errors. The parish scribes had varying degrees of literacy skills and regional dialects encouraged “close enough” spelling of names particularly if unfamiliar to the scriber.
What if the obvious dates are just wrong, either deliberately contrived, mistaken, or well-meaning but fanciful wild guesses?
William Hannah and Mary McGill married on May 21st 1781 according to the OPR (21/5/1781 Marriages 586 /10 359 Dalmellington). Theirs is the only marriage of a William Hannah recorded in the two decades from 1770 to 1790.
A search shows that seven children were born to the couple as shown below.
The OPR marriage and birth entries of the first two children appear to be recorded in the same handwriting, almost a scrawl. These are also spelled correctly i.e. “Hannah”. A change of scribe must have happened around 1785 as the later five children are recorded in a different handwriting, being more fluent. However, each of these entries shows the wrong surname, especially poor Mary who ended up a “Hanny”.
Looking at the entry for William (OPR Births 2/12/1792 586/ 10 203 Dalmellington) we find
There are a couple of things to note in this entry. Firstly the annotation in the margin is noted in a different handwriting the surname “Hannah”, unlike the surname in the entry itself. It appears that the final “h” has been added in later. The second is that the occupation of the father is recorded as “Taylor”, a variation of “Tailor”. Remember our William also had the trade of tailor. Did he learn this from his father?
In 1795 another entry appears (OPR Births 5/7/1795 586/ 10 209 Dalmellington)
Again note the change in surname in the margin. This was the second Andrew born to William and Mary. He survived until 1873 and is shown in the statutory records as being 77 years old when he died. His death record also gives his occupation as “Tailor”. As our William also claimed to be a tailor, there may have been at least two boys following in father William’s trade.
The entry for Mary Hanny (OPR Births 11/3/1798 586/ 10 215 Dalmellington) shown below.
This entry doesn’t show a correction in the margin; however William is shown as a “Taylor” again.
Also adding some certainty to the situation is the naming of William and Margaret Lee’s children as follows:-
Their first child, Mary, was born in 1816 (although no birth or christening is recorded) and was named either for William’s mother Mary McGill, or Margaret’s mother Mary Eagleshom.
The third child, Margaret (1820) was named for Margaret Lees.
The forth child William (1822) was named for William’s father (William).
To date no further BDM records have been found to trace any of the children except for the second Andrew, and I am going to assume the child who is our lost William. There are no recorded death entries for William or Mary. Maybe further research will bear fruit.
